Blighted Industrial Facility near Detroit River to Use $1 Million for Redevelopment

The Riverview Brownfield Authority in Wayne County received a $500,000 grant and $500,000 loan from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to address environmental contamination at the site of Materials Processing Inc. (MPI) on Jefferson Avenue south of Detroit. The funding will help mitigate environmental contamination and deteriorating structures at the contaminated and blighted industrial building.

After the environmental cleanup and building updates, the W.F. Whelan Company, based in Canton, will expand its storage and distribution business at the site. Between 15 and 50 new jobs will be created by the redevelopment.

In addition, the City of Riverview has approved a brownfield plan and an industrial property tax abatement to address environmental contamination and help pay for building improvements. MPI will continue to operate in a portion of the building as a tenant.

The MDEQ’s Brownfield Redevelopment Program provides grants and loans to local governments for environmental activities on brownfield properties where redevelopment is proposed. Brownfields are vacant or abandoned properties with known or suspected environmental contamination.

The MDEQ’s grants and loans have resulted in over $4 billion in private investment and nearly 29,000 new jobs over the life of the Brownfield Redevelopment Program. For each dollar invested in environmental cleanup by the DEQ, an average of $23 is invested in the state’s economy. When brownfields are redeveloped, property values increase both on the cleaned-up site and on other nearby properties, creating new tax revenues for communities. Learn more at www.michigan.gov/deqbrownfields.